Emerald: The Legend of Hoenn: A Retelling
by Katie Legends
Summary: Beka Goldheart is a Pokemon anthropologist that gets caught up in a legend involving Hoenn's ancient past and must work with an ancient warrior known as Emerald to defend Hoenn from an oncoming threat to the region. Contains light Steven Stone x OC pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, they belong to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo, GAME FREAK, The Pokemon Company International. However, I do own the original characters and ideals for "Emerald: The Legend of Hoenn: A Retelling".**

**Emerald: The Legend of Hoenn: ****A**** Retelling**

**Prologue **

In the beginning, man and Pokemon lived together as one. They were from two different worlds, but they were able to co-exist and live together in peace and harmony. Pokemon would help humans and in turn, humans would aid Pokemon as well. As time went on, however, the hearts of humans began to grow cold and dark. Greed and power fed them and they began to grow blind to what truly matter in their lives. As the hearts of humans evolved this way, so did their fears of what they could not understand. One of the things that they could not comprehend was the powers that Pokemon possessed. It was at times that humans attacked Pokemon, took them under slavery, and tortured them without remorse. Some humans saw Pokemon as tools for war and used the power of Pokemon to attack their fellow man.

Those who saw and heard the cries of the enslaved, distressed Pokemon where the gods of nature themselves; known today as Legendary Pokemon. Hearing and seeing their fellow Pokemon in pain, the Legendaries would rain judgment upon mankind; which caused horrid wars between the two worlds.

The Legendaries knew that something had to be done. Connections that were once severed by fear needed to be rebuilt between humans and Pokemon. It was then that the Legendaries began the daunting task to find humans whose hearts were still pure and held love for their Pokemon neighbors. When these humans were found, the Legendaries appointed them as their Chosen and gave them the task to peacefully reconnect the ties of the two worlds that were once broken. If these humans' lives were threatened, the Legendaries blessed them a share of their own powers to protect themselves and to protect Pokemon.

One of these Chosens was that of Emerald, the Chosen One to Rayquaza and known by some as Guardian of the Sky. She was a kind hearted and compassionate Chosen who was said to be able to resolve any conflict that she witnessed. Some say it was because she is that of Rayquaza, who was powerful enough to calm the raging Groudon and Kyogre and to rule over them. Others say it was the very aura of her gentle and patient heart that showed humans the truth and to live in peace with Pokemon.

When word spread of Emerald and the other Chosens across the land, kingdoms grew in fear of their superiority being challenged and the fear of their own power being taken away. The kingdoms declared war upon the Chosen Ones and vowed that they would destroy both Pokemon and human life that stood in their way. A huge war broke between the world of human and Pokemon that raged for days and days. Nobody was winning and countless lives were being lost. Emerald intervened within the cross fires to make the war stop. A horrifying sound escaped from the Chosen's mouth as she was pelted by both man and Pokemon attacks; forcing the two sides to stop to the cry and to see the damage that they had done. Emerald turned to look at both sides and smiled as blood stained in her feather robes and pooled around her on the ground. She wept tears of joy to see the conflict had stopped, if not for a moment, and with her final breath, she unleashed a massive pulse of her own aura that spread across the land. The aura was said to have felt like a deep, unconditional love that could not be described. As that peaceful aura left her body, Emerald collapsed and passed on. After she fell, Rayquaza descended from the smoke-filled sky and took the lifeless form of Emerald in his arms. Tears fell from the emerald dragon's eyes as he took his Chosen, who he had come to see as his own daughter, and flew away with her.

After that fateful day, the kingdoms of human changed and proclaimed laws and orders that there was to be peace between them and Pokemon. Pokemon came to live with humans once again while the Legendaries and Chosens quietly slipped away into the pages of myth.

Legend has it that Rayquaza fled away into a distant land where he built a large tower that peaked high into the clouds on a small island. This place today has been known as Sky Pillar in the southern region of Hoenn. At the very top of the tower rests a shrine and was built to hold a green sphere. Some know it as the Jade Orb, others as the Verdant Orb, and others still consider it the Emerald Orb. Whatever it is called, legend holds it being the final resting vessel of Emerald's soul. From special permission by the native tribes of the Hoenn region, the Emerald Orb has become an important artifact of study and currently rests in the hands of archaeologists and anthropologists as they convene in Sootopolis City to discuss more about Hoenn's ancient past and of a new discovery that involves the Legendaries that controlled the weather. This is where our story begins...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

The underwater world was a massive kelp forest. Various fish and aquatic Pokemon zipped and dashed in between the greenery as a large pair of shadows swam by.

One of them was a human, a female as shown by her diver's suit, as she was holding onto the pudgy flipper and sleek body of a rather large aquatic Pokemon that looked like a mix between a porpoise and a lantern fish. It had a smooth blue body with a yellow mask design over its wide red eyes and a rod sprouting from the top of its head; containing two yellow orbs that dangled from the tips of it. Aside from its large side, the Lanturn also had another odd characteristic to it: it's tail beat up and down, rather than side to side, as it push herself and her passenger further into the kelp forest. With a gentle tap on the Lanturn's side, the diver got the attention of her aquatic Pokemon. The Lanturn's eyes glided to meet her trainer and released a small series of squeaks and pulses from the orbs on her head in question. The diver held out her hand and gave a thumb's down signal; signifying she wanted to go down. The Lanturn nodded her round head and with a push of her flukes, she dove down further into the kelp forest.

When they reached the bottom of the sea floor, the female diver let go of her companion's flipper and patted the Lanturn's head with praise. The Lanturn cooed with a pulse of her orbs. The diver pushed off the sea floor and began to swim just above the sandy bottom; scanning the area for what she was looking for. Schools of Chinchou dashed away to hide in the kelp. Clamperls closed shut as they saw her shadow hover over them. A school of Luvdisc swam near by as they were plucking off pieces of the kelp and dashed off as they saw bubbly disturbances from below them; the diver's oxygen mask being the cause. As they dashed off, flecks of scales floated down from where they were and the diver gently caught them in her gloved hands as they fell like glittering snow. The diver smiled, her hazel eyes gently glistening behind her mask, as she saw the Heart Scales shine in her hands. Her Lanturn companion hovered over her shoulder to see what she had, mustering a tiny pulse of light from her largest orb. The diver gently patted the Lanturn's round rostrum and then pocketed the scales in a pouch on her belt.

The diver looked to the Lanturn and gave a thumbs up signal to her, indicating that the diver needed to go up. The Lanturn nodded and presented her flipper to the diver. The diver took hold with her left arm and wrapped her right around the Pokemon's back. Once she was on board, the Lanturn surrounded the two in a surge of light blue light and kicked off from the sea floor with a massive push of her flukes; making their way back up to the surface.

They broke the calm surface of the sea and caused the light that surrounded them to shatter and evaporate into the air. The diver pulled the mask's goggles and small oxygen tank from off of her face, showing it sprinkled all over with numerous freckles and for her hazel eyes to gleam in the sunlight. She also shook out her long hazel hair of sea water and rung it out in habit.

"Whew," she sighed, taking in a deep breath of sea air, "quite a beautiful morning down below, huh, Dolphi?"

The Lanturn made a squeal of delight and pulsed her orbs in sequence to her cry. The female diver petted Dolphi's side, which felt like wet, muscular silk under her now bare hands, and smiled with delight.

"Thank you for using Dive to take me down to explore," the diver said. She then looked up at the sky and saw the sun hung directly overhead. "Must be getting close to noon. We should get back to shore and have lunch." Dolphi lowered back into the water and swam between her trainer's legs, pushing up so her trainer could get a ride back to the shore of the city that nestled within the ruins of an extinct volcano: Sootopolis City.

Once returning back to shore, the diver was able to strip off her diver suit to her waist; revealing a simple green one piece swimsuit underneath, and folded it up next to a large brown messenger bag that laid on the grassy shoreline. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a series of items: a lunch bag, a long PokeBlock case, her Pokebelt, a large towel, and a few hair accessories. She placed the towel on the ground close to the shoreline and sat down as she rummaged through the pieces that were contained in the PokeBlock case. She pulled out a few golden colored blocks and tossed them out to Dolphi. The Lanturn breached up to catch the candy blocks in her mouth and squealed with delight to the sweet flavor they produced. The young woman smiled to her Pokemon's cry of joy and proceeded to open up her lunch bag and to eat her meal beside the shore. As she ate, she watched the water as Dolphi glided just underneath the smooth surface or was tossing around a piece of kelp as a toy; enjoying the simple joy that her aquatic Pokemon was experiencing in the water.

"She seems to be having quite a fun time out there, isn't she?" came a voice from behind the trainer.

The young woman turned to see a young man was standing beside her. He appeared to be in his late twenties with short, steel blue colored hair that matched his eyes and wearing a black suit with purple designs on the jacket and vest, silver rings on four of his fingers as well as silver cuffs at the end of his jacket's sleeves, purple shoes, and a red scarf tucked into a white collared shirt.

"Oh! Steven!" she blurted, blushing as she saw him come to side beside her on the shore, "I-I didn't expect you to be here so early! The conference doesn't start until five this evening!"

Steven Stone merely chuckled to the young woman's antics and placed a hand to her shoulder, attempting to calm her down. "Now now, don't work yourself into a fit, Beka. " The young woman, known as Beka, blushed even more as Steven had his hand on her shoulder. "Hmm, you feeling okay? Don't tell you're sick."

"No-no! I'm fine!" said Beka, smiling a bit embarrassed. At that time, a squeal of welcoming came before her as Dolphi spy-hopped from the water to see what was going on. "Oh! Dolphi, it's just Steven." She leaned forward to place her hands in the water and signaled to Dolphi. The Light Pokemon gently pushed up onto shore on her flippers and pushed herself up to get closer to Beka and Steven. Steven's eyes widened in surprise and then smiled at the Lanturn.

"Impressive," he said, reaching out to pat Dolphi on her rostrum. Dolphi cooed again as her orbs pulsed to Steven's touch. "So this is your diving partner when you do your underwater explorations for ruins and landmarks?"

"Indeed!" said Beka, twisting a hair tie into her thick red hair, "I've been teaching her behaviors and signals to help me communicate with her underwater."

"Fantastic!" the Hoenn champion smiled, "I'm so glad my student is finding creative ways to working in the archaeological field." Beka blushed to this statement.

"Th-Thank you," she stammered, "and it's thanks to you that I was able to get this internship to help with assisting at the dig sites through out Hoenn." Steven chuckled.

"I'm glad things are working out for you Beka. You deserve it for working hard on your studies and research of Pokemon and human relationships. I also know with this conference coming up soon, your insight and opinions will help us with this new discovery that was recently unearthed by the archaeological team here at Sootopolis."

Beka nodded softly. She then noticed there was something clipped onto Steven's jacket. It looked like a straight pin with a gleaming round stone at the tip of it. She stared at it curiously, seeing a strange S-shaped rune was inside of it. Steven looked at her with a questioning glance.

"Hmm? Oh!" said Steven, plucking the pin from a clip and holding it out for Beka to see, "Have you not seen a Mega Stone Beka?"

"I have a few times," said Beka, "A few trainers I battled with had Mega Stones. I was no match against them and lost those battles."

"Do you have one?" Steven asked. Beka shook her head. A grin pressed on Steven's face. "Well then, we'll have to rectify that then!"

"Huh?" asked Beka. Steven reached into his jacket and pulled out a small wrapped gift box; handing it to Beka.

"A late celebratory present. For your success in getting into your internship," Steven smiled.

Beka opened the top of the box to show that there was a Mega Stone, just like Steven's, was sitting within a golden, heart-shaped charm that was hung with a piece of gold chain. Beka gasped in surprise.

"S-Steven!" she exclaimed, a worried look crossing her face, "Y-You didn't have to get me this! It must have cost a lot and-" She was cut off by Steven as he held up a hand to stop her.

"Please don't be so modest Beka," he smiled, "I wanted to get it for you."

Beka blushed more to his remark. She looked down in bashfulness and muttered out: "Th-Thank you..." What snapped her out of her withdraw was a squirt of water that Dolphi spat at her face. She coughed as Dolphi made a series of squeaks that seem to mimic laughter. "Dolphi!" exclaimed Beka as Steven laughed with the Lanturn.

"Well then," said Steven, getting to his feet, "I have to be on my way to get ready for the conference. I got some final touches to tweak on my presentation as well as get the exhibits ready. You want to come by and see what items we have for the collection?"

"I'd love to," said Beka with a smile.

"Okay then, meet me in front of the Sootopolis Gym in about an hour," said Steven, "I got to meet up with Wallace since he has the keys to the building were the conference is being held at as well as get his help on displaying the exhibits." He made a gentleman's bow to her and made his leave. Beka looked back down at the pendant and blushed a bit more.

'Silly fan girl I am...' she thought with a sigh and went to put the chain around her neck. She smiled at how the gold and the Mega Stone glittered together in the sunlight; they were quite stunning.

"Laaa?" asked Dolphi as she raised herself up to a froggie to see the glittering object resting on Beka's neck. A few pulses of light flickered from her largest orb as she scanned the object with it. Beka smiled and patted Dolphi's rostrum.

"We finally got a Mega Stone for the team," Beka said and reached for her belt. She plucked off a blue Pokeball that had white and various blue designs on it to represent waves. "Return Dolphi!" Dolphi allowed the Dive Ball to catch her in a red beam of light and return her back into its vessel. Beka then collected her items and made her way back to the Sootopolis Pokemon Center to prepare for the meetup.

The hour was up and Beka finally made her way to the entrance to Sootopolis' gym. Stripped from her swimsuit and diver's suit, she was now sporting a light outfit to stay cool in the warm climate of the Hoenn region: a simple white button-up blouse housed over a green tank top to protect her from the beaming afternoon sun, a long jean skirt draped over her long legs, and simple gladiator-style sandals wrapped around her feet. She also wore the gold Mega necklace Steven gave her and had her brown messenger bag hanging from her left shoulder and coming to rest on her right hip. Most importantly: her Pokeball belt hung around her waist so she could have her Pokemon companions with her at all times.

Approaching the front doors, she saw Steven waiting out in front and waved to him. Steven waved back in response.

"Glad to see you've made it," he remarked as he saw her approach, "Wallace should be coming out any moment now." As soon as his sentence finished, the doors to the gym opened.

The two turned to see a young man, around the late twenties age mark as Steven, stepped out. His hair and eyes both matched a brilliant turquoise color and he wore a very peculiar outfit: consisting of a white sailor hat, a white jumpsuit that was cut dramatically around the mid-drift and chest to don turquoise and purple features to it, a series of white cuffs on his arms, and a silky aqua colored scarf that draped across his shoulders. Beka gasped in shock to see the man's dramatic outfit while Steven went rather stoned face to his friend's sense of fashion.

"Hello!" proclaimed the new comer, "If it isn't Steven Stone and his beautiful student that he has taken under his wing!"

Beka blushed to that statement as Steven sighed. "Wallace. I take it things have been going well with the set up at the conference?"

"But of course!" beamed Wallace, "I just need your opinion of the setup before we open the doors to our attendees!"

"Very well, are you ready to heard on over?" Steven asked.

"Of course!" said Wallace, closing the gym's doors, locking it, and then flipping over a sign to show CLOSED on the front side. Wallace then turned to Beka with a smile. "If it isn't the lovely Ms. Goldheart! How are you doing deary?" He then took her hand and gently planted a kiss on the top of it, causing her to blush more.

"Oh..I-I'm doing al-alright..." she stammered. Wallace chuckled.

"As shy and modest as ever. I just love it!" He then wrapped his arms around her to give her a hug. Her face grew redder as she felt herself pressed up against the leader's half-naked chest. Steven cleared his throat, signifying for Wallace's attention. The Water Gym Leader let go of Beka and turned to Steven. "My apologies! Getting carried away as always on beauty! Let us go!"

'I'm not that beautiful...' thought Beka, and proceeded to follow the two trainers toward the destination of the meet up.

It was only a few blocks down from the Gym in a rather beautiful building that housed sculptures of ancient Pokemon inside the main lobby of the building. All around them, movers were being directed by curators to show where certain items were to be places, archaeologists looked over the details of boxed items to make sure they came in safely, and directors were meeting and directing various native Hoenn tribe leaders to look around so they could see if everything was set up correctly. Beka gasped at all of the ancient wonders around her. "Amazing..." she said, her smile growing at all the amazing objects.

"Anything you recognize from your studies and travels?" asked Steven, a small smile on his face.

"Yeah! That statue!" Beka pointed at a slab with raised bumps on it, "That's the ancient Braille-style language the ancients in Hoenn used!" She ventured forward and stopped to gape at a stunning wooden statue of a large winged bird Pokemon with a massive head crest that flowed down its back. "This is a Pidgeot carving similar to the style found in the Sevii Islands!" She moved again and looked into glass cases. "Wow! Beautiful bone carvings and glassware! They must be from the Orange Islands!"

"Come here Beka!" proclaimed Wallace, "Come see the main center points of our conference!" Beka came over to a large glass case that was near the center of the exhibit and where Wallace stood at. He gestured for her to look and she saw that, sitting on velvet props, were three brilliant orbs. One was colored a deep red, the other a nightly blue, and the third central piece was one that was a verdant green color. Beka gasped in disbelief.

"No way!" She muttered. "The Red and Blue Orbs! And...is that the fabled Emerald Orb?"

"Jade, Verdant, Green, Emerald...whatever you wish to call it," said Wallace, "There are so many names that people have given these orbs in the thousands of years they have been around."

"But why are they here?" Beka asked, turning to Wallace.

"Well," said Wallace, nodding toward the group of native tribe leaders that were chatting with the directors, "it's thanks to the watchers of Mt. Pyre and to Hoenn's Native Tribe organization that made it possible. Without their approval, we won't have had the opportunity to show these three beauties to our guests here at the conference; including you." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "What do you think?"

"They're beautiful," Beka spoke in awe, sounding a bit hypnotic.

"Beka!" called out Steven, causing her to snap back to reality. She turned to see him beckoning her from where he stood next to a few individuals. "Come here! I'd like you to meet a few people!" Beka approached him and turned to see three individuals, all dressed in tribal grabs, looking back at her from where they stood before Steven. Steven held out his hand to the first individual, a large muscular man dressed in red. "This is the leader of the ancient tribe derived from the Mt. Chimney area and are holders to the Red Orb: Beh."

"Greetings Ms. Goldheart," Beh spoke, holding out one his large hands toward her.

"A pleasure," said Beka modestly, shaking his hand.

"Next is the leader of the ancient tribe derived closest to Lilycove City and are holders to the Blue Orb: Levia."

A woman donned in blue dress garbs and wearing glass beads around her neck approached Beka and took her hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Water Sister," greeted the individual known as Levia.

"Nice to meet you as well, Leader Upon the Waves," Beka spoke, a bit nervously, "Is that the correct translation?"

"A bit rough, but I see you know the basics of our introductory customs," Levia chuckled.

"And finally," announced Steven as he let a tall man come up to Beka, "The leader of the ancient tribe that house in the islands which circle the Sky Pillar and holders to the Emerald Orb: Ziz."

"How do you do?" the green clad man asked with a smile, with long green feathers protruding from his gray ponytail as he took Beka's hand, palm open, and gently blew into it, "The Winds of Life welcomes you."

"Well, thank you," Beka said, taking her hand toward her face and breathing in just above it, "I accept your gifts."

Ziz chuckled to himself in amusement and turned to Steven. "I see your student is very knowledgeable in the tribe customs of Hoenn. I can't wait to hear her stories of her internship throughout Hoenn."

"As do I," Steven smiled to Beka, making her blush, "but that will have to wait until after the conference this evening." He then turned to Wallace. "Wallace, I need your help on somethings. Please assist me."

"Of course! I said I would help you, didn't I?" said Wallace. Steven then turned to Beka.

"I imagine you have things to prepare for before tonight as well, right Beka?"

"I do," she replied.

"Then I won't keep you waiting around," Steven smiled, "See you this evening."

He and Wallace walked off further into the lobby of the building as the three tribe leaders were being escorted off by directors and curators in another direction to see more of the exhibit and get final confirmations on the setting.

'I should head back to the Center,' thought Beka, turning to look at the central display of the three orbs one last time before making her way out of the lobby.


End file.
